a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an IC card reader that reads and writes data with respect to IC cards. More specifically, the present invention relates to a latch mechanism for closing a card discharge opening after an IC card is inserted so that the IC card cannot be removed.
b) Description of the Related Art
An IC card reader is equipped with a card latch lever that is operated between an open mode and a closed mode: in the open mode, IC cards can be inserted and removed; in the closed mode, IC cards cannot be inserted or removed. An IC card reader of this type is also equipped with a mechanism that moves the card latch lever to the open mode at the insertion of an IC card and to the closed mode at the removal of an IC card.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 9, known is an IC card reader 105 that has a contact head holding body 100, a slider 101, a lever 102, and a swing lever 104. The contact head holding body 100 is pushed deep inside at the insertion of an IC card. The slider 101, provided separately from the contact head holding body 100, is pushed deep inside when the contact head holding body 100 is moved deep inside by a predetermined distance to make contact therewith. The lever 102 is pushed deep inside when the slider 101 is moved deep inside by a predetermined distance to make contact therewith. The swing lever 104 is rotated by the lever 102 to open/close a card latch lever 103 (Japanese laid-open patent application S61-156384).
As illustrated in FIG. 10, also known is an IC card reader 105 that has a lever 106, a swing lever 107, and a link 108. The lever 106 is pushed deep inside at the insertion of an IC card. The swing lever 107 rotates with the movement of the lever 106. The link 108 is pushed toward the front with the rotation of the swing lever 107 to open/close the card latch lever 103 (Japanese laid-open patent application H3-166680).
The following additional patent references are known: Japanese laid-open patent application S61-156384 (Patent Reference 1) and Japanese laid-open patent application H3-166680 (Patent Reference 2).
Problems to be Solved
However, in the IC card reader 105 disclosed in Patent Reference 1 in which the card latch lever 103 is moved to the closed mode via the movement of the contact head holding body 100, the contact head holding body 100 is provided separately from the slider 101. Therefore, the inserted IC card comes into contact with the contact head holding body 100 first, and then the contact head holding body 100 comes into contact with the slider 101 as the IC card is further inserted to move by a predetermined distance. Although the initial insertion load of the IC card is only the load of the contact head holding body, the load of the slider 101 is added as soon as the contact head holding body 100 makes contact with the slider 101. Thus, the card insertion load is suddenly increased in the middle of insertion, giving a poor operability to users.
Also, in the IC card reader 105 disclosed in Patent Reference 2 in which the lever 106 is pushed in directly by an IC card, the components, beginning from the lever 106 with which the IC card makes contact to the card latch lever 103, are connected to each other. Therefore, the card latch lever 103 starts coming down as the IC card is inserted, and may hit the IC card before the card is completely inserted. In that case, if the IC card keeps coming in, it may be damaged.